Eston International’s portfolio grew by a REIT evaluation as the Hungarian advisory firm became the official property valuer of Graphisoft Park in January 2018.

On 29 March 2018, the fourth edition of SEE Property Forum in Bucharest, organized by Property Forum in partnership with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will gather leading real estate professionals and top executives from South Eastern Europe to analyse the potential of the Romanian real estate market from a global perspective. Nearly 50 speakers and more than 250 visitors will come together in the Romanian capital, creating a unique networking opportunity.

Development is booming in almost all segments of the Romanian market, but developers still need to overcome a number of legal and regulatory challenges before they can start building. Then, once construction is complete, they must realise that tenants have become more aware and more “choosey”. Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa, Partner at Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații and Head of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group reviewed some of the issues that may arise when developing or leasing a new building in Romania.

The EBRD and ING Romania are joining forces to finance the logistics park CTPark, situated on the A1 Bucharest-Pitesti motorway and 2 km away from the Romanian capital. The financiers have arranged a package of €96 million, of which the EBRD is providing €43.8 million and ING €52.2 million.

David Hay has resigned as CEO of AFI Europe Romania and announced his intention to seek out other opportunities outside the company. AFI Europe is currently working on three projects in Romania: AFI Brasov, AFI Tech Park in Bucharest and AFI City.

CTP has appointed Andreea Odovinca as Chief Financial Officer for Romania. She will be responsible for ensuring the efficiency of financial functions, the quality of the information provided by the department, staff development and performance management.

Atrium European Real Estate Limited announces its results for 2017. The company is focusing on owning quality assets in well-connected, strong, urban locations in the region's largest and strongest economies. 20 smaller assets were sold during 2017 and early 2018 for €80 million, with the effective exit from Hungary and the Czech portfolio rotation completed.

Student housing is becoming an increasingly attractive investment product in European markets. StudentMarketing, a global market intelligence consultancy, summarised the most important findings of the European Residential & Student Housing Investment Briefing at MIPIM.

An affiliate of U.S. private equity firm Starwood Capital Group (SOF-11 Starlight 10 EUR) announced the launch of a voluntary partial public takeover offer for approximately 26% of CA Immo and 5% of Immofinanz shares.

Industrial, and specifically logistics, is the most sought-after real estate sector for European investors, overtaking office for the first time, according to CBRE’s annual EMEA Investor Intentions Survey. In 2017 Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London were the five most sought-after destinations in Europe for investors who are actively pursuing alternative opportunities due to aggressive asset pricing and limited availability of core stock. In Hungary steadily improving developer sentiment and potential platform deals could pave the way for rising turnover in the sector.